Mayor Ed Lee hits the bars

Four words you probably thought you’d never seen in the same sentence — “Ed Lee” and “pub crawl”

The mayor skipped another in what seem to be an endless series of candidate debates Thursday night to work the room at a couple of Lower Haight beer pubs. Based on the reaction, it appears that a San Francisco mayor doesn’t drop in very often.

Truth be told, Toronado is not exactly the Top of the Mark. Although know for its sensational beer menu, it is listed in Yelp under “dive bars.”

“I knew this wasn’t Gavin Newsom’s kind of place,” said Paul Stanard, who says he has been tending bar there for 21 years.

But Lee plunged in enthusiastically, making the same joke over and over about this being better than another debate. Lee says the idea came to him after an off-hand comment about the lack of substance to candidate forums led him to say he’d probably get more mileage out of going to a bar and talking to people.